In Dreams
by roxyrainbow
Summary: Hermione is plagued by dream filled nights and its starting to effect her everyday life. (Its never stated that she is of age but she is and as far as the war and everything it is not cannon. The story is almost finished but I am only posting a short to see if anyone wants to read it.) Hermione/Severus
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters and places and everything good belongs to JKR. I'm just taking them out to play for a little while.

She moved restlessly in her small bed. Every move she made resulted in the soft sheets tangling into a knotted mess underneath her body. She searched for that moment, the moment where she slipped into a peaceful state of sleep. The kind of sleep that your body craved after a long day of classes, frustrating classmates, homework, your idiot friend's homework, and all the hormones that comes with being a teenage girl. Only every time she caught a glimpse of the Sandman she was tossed into a dream world so vivid that she would wake covered in sweat, heart pounding with the taste of her own blood on her tongue.  
Her mind relished in his touch. It was as if his fingertips had burned a road map onto her skin. One that she was sure would be visible to anyone that looked at her even when the dream was over. She was his to command. It was more than a want for her; in fact, she craved his approval, his touch, his taste, whatever he offered was exactly what she needed. She would bend until she broke as long as he gave her what she needed in that dream.  
Awake again, Hermione panted and groaned lightly into the darkness. Somewhere over the course of the last few months she had unknowingly developed a sexual interest in someone that was utterly and completely off limits. While she was awake and in her right state of mind she could tell you all the reasons why this interest was out of the question, inappropriate, wrong and any other words you could think of to describe something that was just plain out ridiculous. Oh but when she was asleep, it was if she needed his touch to survive and there was nothing that her rational mind could say to convince herself otherwise.  
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Morning hit her like well-earned slap to the face. She struggled to drag herself out of the bed and into the shower. She swayed underneath the warm spray of water as her eyes closed in an attempt to rediscover sleep. They snapped open again as the bar of soap she had been holding fell loudly into the tub. Annoyed she turned the water from warm to scalding to force herself to finish quickly.  
She was running late, again. She bypassed all the frills. No makeup, no lotions or magic hair tonics, just Hermione in all her frizzy messy haired glory. Grabbing her books and jumper she sprinted out the door and down the corridors so that hopefully she could blend in with the rest of her classmates that got a late start that morning.  
Finally reaching the Potion's classroom she stopped, adjusted her robes and walked through the door.  
She kept her head low trying to avoid his attention as she slipped into her seat.  
"Ms. Granger so good of you to join us today," the professor drawled loudly.  
Hermione sighed quietly, "I'm sorry Professor Snape I must have over slept. It won't happen again."  
She watched as he crossed his arms over his chest, moved from behind his desk, and stalked slowly down the aisle towards her.  
"That was the very same thing that you said three days ago and if I recall correctly two times last week. It seems that you've made a habit of lying to me Miss Granger and I find that I am growing less and less patient with you."  
Hermione was very aware of him standing over her. She could smell the overpowering mix of potions ingredients clinging to his robes. She could feel the heat radiating from his body and incasing her. Her eyes slipped closed and a moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.  
"Something you'd like to say Ms. Granger?" His voice now more amused than annoyed.  
Her face felt like it was on fire. She opened her mouth to speak but no words would come out. She finally decided that shaking her head no was the better option. "If one could die of mortification it would surely be after a moment like that," she thought bitterly.  
The rest of the class went by with Hermione nervously checking over her shoulder and completely destroying a potion that she had made countless times on her own. She felt drained and confused. The dreams were now slipping into her everyday life and she felt completely stuck and miserable.  
She tilted her wrist so that she could see what time it was. Her heart soared for the first time since she woke up; it was almost time to leave.  
"Clean your tables and put the unused ingredients back in the storage closet. For those of you whose potion failed I expect two feet of parchment on what you imbeciles did wrong. In case you don't realize it that means all of you!" Hermione shook slightly as his voice grew louder. She really needed to get ahold of herself because this was just ridiculous.  
"You are all dismissed, except for you Ms. Granger."  
Hermione couldn't do this, not today. Who was she kidding? She couldn't be alone with him ever! She snatched up her books and ran out the door before Professor Snape could stop her. She couldn't stop running.


	2. Chapter 2

**It still belongs to JKR.**

 **On another note, I didn't intend for this to be a chaptered story as it's not supposed to be incredibly long. I'm going to post the majority of it today for you all.**

Hermione was sitting in between Ron and Harry at the long lunch table. She couldn't bring herself to eat or interact with her friends. She just pushed the food around with her fork not really paying attention to the conversations that were going on around her.

"I can't believe you just ran out! I mean he had just said that he wanted you to stay after class and you just ran out of there like a bloody bat out of hell!"

Hermione looked over at Ron. That boy could irritate her even on her best days. He was an excellent friend but a little bit of a nit wit. "I didn't hear him is all," she said lightly.

Harry snorted happily, "Sure you didn't! That's why you ran all the way to McGonagall's classroom like you had a Dementor on your tail."

"You're being far too dramatic Harry." Hermione stole a quick glance towards the teacher's table to see if Professor Snape was still there but he was gone. She hated not knowing where he was, always afraid of turning a corner and running into him. The art of surprise was surely not lost on him.

She looked back at her plate. That man had complete control over her and he didn't even realize it, not that she wasn't thankful for that fact. How miserable would she be if he knew? With how miserable she was now she couldn't imagine it being any worse.

Hermione's heart plummeted. For the second time that day as the potion master's scent filled her nostrils, she inadvertently pulled that amazing scent deep into her extremely tight feeling chest.

"Ms. Granger good to see you are well," Professor Snape drawled sarcastically.

She couldn't breathe. The faint clatter of her fork hitting the plate did very little to distract her from the deafening sound of blood rushing through her ears.  
"Did you lose your ability to speak along with your ability to hear Miss Granger?"

If she was the praying kind then now would be the time when she prayed for the floor to just swallow her up, chair and all. Unfortunately, she wasn't and so she gathered all the courage she had and said, "I'm not sure what you are referring to sir."

"Get up Ms. Granger! Get up and follow me now!" Hermione watched as the once calm face of Severus Snape twisted into a mix of anger and what she could only describe territorial rage. The room had fallen silent all waiting with baited breath to see what would transpire between the potion's master and the dainty Gryffindor. She didn't speak nor did she move. She sat motionless trying to figure out a way to escape. Disapparation would be a helpful solution at a time this volatile.

Every student in the Great Hall watched in fascination as the professor grabbed Hermione by the back of her robes and yanked her forcibly from her seat. Her toes barely touched the floor as he dragged out of the room.

Once outside of the large room he loosened his grip so that her feet were firmly on the floor but he did not let go of her robes. Hermione assumed that was because he thought she was going to run. He was right about that. The moment he let go she was going to make an escape!

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Professor Snape didn't release Hermione until they were in his office with the chamber door secured behind them.

She stood unmoving as he walked to take the seat behind his desk. She had successfully avoided having whatever conversation this was going to turn out to be for weeks now; weeks in which she should have been preparing for what she would say if he ever questioned her and yet here she was rooted to the floor with absolutely nothing to say.

He watched her as she sat down in one of the high back chairs in front of his desk. She kept her face hidden and he noticed that her hands played nervously with the hem of her jumper. She had always been a peculiar girl; so willing to please and to be accepted by her professors and her peers, never caring that all the things that she was superior at were also the things that made her incredibly annoying.

"Is there something on your mind Ms. Granger?" She didn't acknowledge that he spoke so he said, "I'm being very polite at the moment and I have little reason to be so it would serve you well to answer me."

She felt like she was being suffocated. Being in a room alone with him was a special sort of torture. On one hand she wanted to get as far away as quickly as possible. On the other hand, well, she just wanted to be surrounded by him. She shivered involuntarily. He was killing her.

The tension crackled around her. She could feel it on her like a second skin. Hermione knew that she couldn't avoid speaking. She knew that now or never wasn't a choice in this situation so she took a deep breath and hoped that whatever came out was good enough to get her out of this classroom.

"I haven't been sleeping well Professor and it's wearing on me is all." She didn't look up to see how he took what she said. She just kept her head down and tried to stay level headed.

"Your private life is of little concern to me Miss Granger. Go to bed early, go see Madame Pomfrey, or make a damned potion yourself but be on time to my class from now on. Now get out!"

The sheer bass of his voice startled her. She quickly jumped from her seat and darted towards the door.

"Oh and Hermione."

She stopped; her forehead suddenly wet with perspiration and her hand gripping the door handle. Her first name, he didn't even call her that in her dreams. Was she dreaming now?

"If you ever deliberately ignore me when I request your presence again I will make you long for sleepless nights."

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Months had passed and Hermione had yet to shake the dreams. She had begged Professor Dumbledore to let her drop potions as one of her classes but he had declined saying that she would regret that decision later on. So Hermione had started feigning sick or getting "wrapped" up in something else so that she could miss his class. She had also taken to skipping meals or eating in her room anything that would keep her out from under the watchful eyes of Severus Snape.

It was a Saturday night and Hermione had skipped her last two meals. Needless to say she was starving. It was late enough that if caught she would get in quite a bit of trouble for being out of her dorm but it was so late that there was almost no chance of her seeing anyone on her way to and from the kitchen.

She made it to the kitchen with no hiccups. The house elves provided her with a sandwich, a dessert pastry, and a class of milk and left her to eat on her own. Once she finished she started back to her dorm.

She smelled him before she saw him. He always had a distinctive smell of lingering potions and smoke. She hadn't seen that man in nearly two months and she really, really didn't want to have to deal with him now. She tried to duck into one of the alcoves to avoid him but instead her face came so close to his chest that she could feel the brush of his robes against her nose. Death would be a glorious savoir.

"Fancy running into you here, Miss Granger," he drawled tightly.

"I'm sorry Professor I was just getting a snack. I'm on my way back to my room now."

"It seems you are hiding in the dark Granger. I can only imagine it was to avoid running into me. You obviously realized I was here. You made that little noise of disappointment in the back of your throat right before turning into this corner."

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. All this time she had avoided him. She let her work suffer, she let her health suffer and she had nothing to show for any of it because his presence still overwhelmed her to the point of madness.

Hermione felt like the breath was being sucked out of her lungs. She stood there in that hallway in a pair of pink shorts with little yellow ducks on them and all that she wanted to do was give into those dreams.

He took her by the wrist and guided her down the halls. Maybe guided was too gentle a word, he yanked her down the halls of the castle would be a more accurate description. One by one they turned corners and moved silently until finally they reached a door that Hermione had never seen before. She felt a sense of panic take over her as the door opened. She could see four large wingback chairs sitting around a massive round table, she knew there was a fireplace to the right of the door as she caught a glimpse of the glow on the floor, on the back wall straight ahead of her there was a drink cabinet with a crystal decanter full of what she assumed was firewhiskey and several matching highball glasses and she thought she could make out a long book case and couch. This was part of his personal rooms. Hermione paled at the realization.

Snape tugged Hermione into the room and dropped her unceremoniously into one of the chairs right inside the door.

"If you know what's good for you Granger you will sit there and not move or talk until I tell you to."

She watched as he yanked his robes off and tossed it over the back of one of the other chairs. She was surprised to see that underneath his normal robes he wore a white long sleeve shirt and a pair of black slacks. He pulled the sleeves up a little before pouring himself a drink and then taking a seat in front of her.

"Explain," he said.

"Explain what Sir," Hermione said with a trembling voice.

"Enough!" He stood quickly, slamming his palms onto the table in front of him. "YOU, Hermione Granger, quit coming to class!" Severus hit the table with one hand as if making a point. "You quit eating in the Great Hall," he hit the table again. "Do you think me stupid? You have done nothing but avoid me, ME! I want your explanation and I will have it NOW!"

She jumped as he emphasized the last word. She fisted her hands in her lap. His scent moved around her. It felt like it was dancing slow circles across her skin and she wanted it to continue, she needed it continue.

Hermione sat silently. She could feel his eyes beating down on her, willing her to speak. She couldn't think of a lie that would be believable enough to say out loud. A lie that would not only explain not eating in the Great Hall but also explain her having not been in a potions class for nearly two months but she couldn't think of anything. The only thing that she could think about was how incredible her body felt in her dreams when he was there with her, towering over her, touching her, teasing her…loving her? Was it love that she felt there? Possibly but what did she know about those matters.

She was lost in her mind. Her thoughts were a jumble of different things, none of which would prove helpful to her current situation.

"SPEAK NOW MISS GRANGER!"

Hermione stood up quickly. She wanted to run for the door but she knew without a doubt that he had warded it so that she would not be able to leave. She wanted to suddenly wake up and realize that it had all been a dream just like all the dreams before. She wanted to tell him the most believable lie in the world so that she could leave this room and not have to face whatever it is that was going on. She wanted to tell him because if she said it out loud maybe that would make it go away. Maybe if he knew what was going on in her head he would say something that hurt her feelings to the point that she would never have to face one of those ridiculous dreams ever again.

She paced the short distance from the table to the door, tugging at a loose string on the hem of her camisole with her right hand, and chewing on the thumbnail of her left hand. She stopped, removed her thumb from between her teeth then shook her head no and put her thumb back in between her teeth and continued pacing.

Hermione could feel Professor Snape's eyes on her. She knew he was growing more and more impatient with her and the longer she stalled the worse things would be for her. She stopped again, turned to face the door, and sighed.

"I take muggle sleeping pills, potions, herbs, even dreamless sleep and still the dreams come. It feels like I haven't had a full night's sleep in months. I thought that if I could avoid you then the dreams would stop." Hermione knew she was vague but she hoped that he would just think that she was dreaming about him torturing her or failing her; anything he could think of would be better than the truth.

Hermione looked down at the floor. She could've kicked herself for not putting a robe on and slippers or socks. She felt ridiculous standing in Severus Snape's private room in ducky shorts, a nearly see through clingy pale yellow camisole and bare feet. She felt like a joke. He probably thought she was a joke.

"You have had two months to figure it out Miss Granger. You will be in class tomorrow and you will be prompt. I expect you to be in the Great Hall for every meal. Now get out!"

Hermione heard the distinctive sound of the large door unlocking and she wasted no time getting out of that room but when the door closed behind her she just leaned against the wall. She was exhausted and suddenly very cold.

When she finally collapsed into her bed it was just after three in the morning. She calculated that if she fell asleep by half past three then she could get about four hours of sleep before she had to be in the Great Hall for breakfast. She fumbled around her bedside table for the vial of dreamless sleep, drained the contents of the vial, and yanked her blanket over her head.

She tossed and turned, she sobbed angry tears into her pillow, and just when she thought that she would surely lose her mind sleep dragged her back into his arms. Without warning her bed changed into the round table that she had seen in his quarters. Hermione found herself laying naked on the cool hard top of the table, her legs spread wide, with Severus Snape sitting in between them staring at her as if she was the main course.

There were no lights in the room with the exception of the fireplace that was crackling behind the Potions Master. The flickering flames only served to intensify the sexual tension that she felt. She needed him to touch her, she longed for it, her body was screaming for his attention. Hermione heard herself whisper, "Please," and just as his hands started to travel up her long legs to her very center her alarm snatched her from the dream and dropped her unceremoniously back into reality.

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She hurried into the Great Hall and slid in between Ron and Harry. Ron greeted her with a full mouth as per usual and Harry gave her a bright smile. If she ate in five minutes or less that would allow her 15 minutes to run to Snape's store room and hopefully snag an Invigoration draught. If she had that in her system surely she would be able to maintain enough focus in Snape's class to hopefully keep him off of her back.

"It's been awhile," Harry said as he gestured to Hermione with his spoon.

Hermione tore a piece of the sticky pastry with her fingers, "I just haven't felt like myself lately. I promise that I will be here from now on." Professor Snape hadn't given her much choice in the matter.

"Thank Merlin," Ginny declared. "It's been a real boys club without you!"

Hermione glanced up at the professor's table as she stuffed the last bit of pastry in her mouth. Professor Snape was speaking with Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick and a large group of very chatty Hufflepuff girls were starting to walk out of the dining hall, she decided that now was her best shot to go unnoticed by him.

"I have to go. I'll see you in potions," with that Hermione grabbed her bag and disappeared into the cluster of witches leaving her friends more confused than ever.

It wasn't the first time that she had stolen from Professor Snape's stores but it was the first time that she dared do so in the daylight when he could show up at any moment.  
Hermione reached the door and with a nonverbal Alohomora she slipped inside.

"Lumos," Hermione uttered quietly. She ran her fingers lightly against the different sized bottles all the while thinking that she was being reckless. This wasn't her. She wasn't the type of girl to skip classes or the type of girl to not eat because she was afraid of running into a boy. Man, she corrected internally. She wasn't the type of girl to break into a teacher's personal store room for something as simple as an Invigoration draught. She plucked the bottle from the shelf and without any more thought on right or wrong she drank it down and headed for class.

Hermione pulled her hair back as she continued to read the instructions for the potion in front of her. She felt unusually warm and irritated. Today, of all days, Snape had decided that they should attempt to brew the Draught of Dreamless Sleep. She bit down on her lip to keep from screaming. Did he think that he was humorous? Was he taunting her for what she had told him the night before? Whatever it was she wanted no part of it.

While the potion was coming to the right temperature she yanked her cloak off then dropped it in a heap onto the floor. Hermione juiced the Flobberworm in front of her, added two blobs of its mucous to the potion and began to stir it vigorously. She lowered the heat and watched as the color shifted from a murky brown to a soft green.

Sweat beaded on her brow, her eyes were unfocused, her hands were shaking; something wasn't right. Hermione loosened her tie, rolled up her sleeves, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She attempted to shake off the strangeness and began to chop the Sopophorous bean. For the first time since she began making the potion Hermione allowed herself to look around the room. There were several of her peers that seemed to have created a sludge that had eaten straight through their cauldrons, some didn't look like they hadn't started yet, and a few others; like herself appeared to be on the right track for the moment.

Hermione added the chopped Sopophorous bean to the cauldron and stirred it quickly with one hand while turning the heat up with the other. She felt like her body was being heated from the inside out. She toed her shoes off beneath the desk so that she could remove her socks. The dungeon floor felt cool to her feet but it didn't seem to cool her body off at all. Hermione looked back to the potion it was time to add a sprinkle of powdered asphodel petals and a dash of essence of nettle. She could see the finish line now. If she could turn in a perfect potion she felt like that would at least give her a semblance of control. She added both quickly and stirred the potion once more. All it needed was to heat again before she could finish it and leave this dreadful classroom.

The heat in the room was stifling her. She pulled her jumper over her head leaving her standing in only her skirt, white button up shirt, and her loosened tie. No one else in the room seemed to be suffering from the heat, in fact, the rest of her classmates seemed to be feeling rather chilly.

She watched as the potion began to turn a vibrant purple. Just a little bit longer, she thought to herself. Hermione could smell him again. She hadn't seen him since the beginning of the lesson, she hadn't really been aware of his presence until just then. She lifted her wand watching the potion bubble vigorously in front of her. She heard a loud slam behind her, she twisted awkwardly around, when she saw nothing she turned back to her potion. Hermione frowned. The Draught of Dreamless Sleep should be a bright purple and still bubbling given that she hadn't yet finished it but instead it was a purple so dark that it looked black and it was as still as death.

Angry tears clung to the corners of her eyes, "I did everything right. I watched it and I did everything in the right order and I turned away for two seconds and when I turned back," her words trailed off as Professor Snape moved to stand in front of her.

"You are a mess Miss Granger. Not only is your potion incorrect half of your uniform is laying on my floor." She watched as he flashed an empty potion vial in front of her. "I wonder what could've gotten into you," he asked with a smirk.

Hermione sank into her chair. All the frustration, all the anger and the hate, all the need and want just bubbled to the surface and she was just done. She had no energy left to move or cry or fight. She needed to be alone.


End file.
